AI Targeting in Advertising

Artificial intelligence (AI) has impacted every field as technology advances. Marketers and consumers alike have come to rely on machines more and more. For advertisers, AI has helped improve the customer experience. This is particularly true when advertisers target users with an ad, as well as when they use data for targeting in order to reach the correct audience segment. However, many marketers are still trying to fully understand the depth of AI and the available opportunities. So, what are the basics of AI and its applications for the marketing and advertising landscape? Let’s dive in.

 

What is artificial intelligence? 

AI can be defined as the simulation of human intelligence by a machine according to Tech Target. These computer programs can function and do tasks that usually require human attention and oversight. AI is ingrained into many of our daily tasks. From unlocking phones with facial recognition to autocorrect updating any misspellings in writing, AI’s capabilities are infinite.

How can AI be used in marketing and advertising? 

Since AI is increasingly all around us as consumers, there are many ways we can utilize it in marketing and advertising! Here are a few of the top examples: 

1. Review and analyze large amounts of data
2. Collect large amounts of data from many different sources
3. Make slight changes to a campaign so it can perform better
4. Select the correct audience to target with your ads
5. Automated content curation
6. Target specific people with ads no matter what website they are on
7. Chat features on websites to help answer questions or lead you to the correct location without needing a customer service representative
8. Billboards that are able to serve multiple creatives per day 

Let’s get down to targeting! 

One of the biggest opportunities marketers have for utilizing AI capabilities is collecting data. Data collection parameters are changing to allow the consumer more privacy options, limiting the ways marketers can utilize the data. The solution? Using AI for contextual targeting. By focusing on the context of the digital content consumers are viewing, marketers are able to leverage AI capabilities to analyze the data on the pages users consume to enable them to target the specified consumer more narrowly. When using AI for targeting, marketers are able to serve ads that match the content on the page that is being consumed by its target audience. This elevates the experience for consumers, placing the ad in the best spot on the webpage to not get in the way of content or overwhelm the user. 

Using AI for contextual targeting helps marketers reach the correct audience with targeted ads and enables brands to capture the targeted consumer while providing a higher quality user experience. AI contextual targeting is very efficient because of the computer’s ability to analyze large amounts of data and make needed optimizations along the way (compared to traditional contextual targeting that requires more time and effort to get a similar result). 

What marketers need to know 

By coupling marketing efforts with AI capabilities such as targeting and optimization of data, marketers are able to better accomplish their goals. However, AI cannot be the sole mind behind any campaign. Working together with AI for targeting and optimization purposes is how marketers will achieve the strongest results — but leaving our work entirely up to AI will cause complications. Working with AI is like working with a team, it may see things marketers can’t, but working together provides a better outcome. As AI in the advertising space continues to evolve in our ever-changing technological landscape, marketers will need to continue to adapt to and learn from technology changes to reach their core audiences and more effectively achieve their business goals.